Thanks for joining me!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Author: Kat
Finding new hobbies
These days I’ve been doing nothing but self-studying Japanese and watching vlogs on Youtube. My favorite channel is 슛뚜sueddu for her cinematic style and non-dizzying vlogs (if you get what I mean). Her videos are really lovely and relaxing to watch. I feel like they have healing power lol.
Actually, her channel is the main reason why I finally got myself a camera. I wanted to try out legit photography and videomaking. Simple ones, though. I’ve taken photography as my extracurricular during middle school. But I wasn’t even that serious at studying so I forgot everything my teacher had taught me lol.
Aside from that, I also gained interest in pottery and sewing from watching other Youtube channels as well. Unfortunately, these hobbies are quite pricy to try out. There is one pottery studio near the apartment where I live in Japan but the class price is just … No. But I did find a DIY pottery clay using normal oven so I will try that out soon. Haha.
As for sewing, my mom and dad were surprisingly supportive when I told them about it and they even offered to buy me a sewing machine. The plan is mom would enroll me in a sewing class next summer when I go back. I’m excited but scared at the same time since I can’t really sew, even with hand lol. But if it works out I think it’ll be a great skill to have. 😀
My first camera
I just got myself a new Sony ∝6000 mirorrless camera two weeks ago! I bought it with the savings I accumulated from my scholarship money. I’ve always wanted to get my own legit camera for so many years but I always ended up changed my mind in the last minute since it was too expensive. I finally mustered up the courage to buy it.
The camera itself is actually pretty old in the market. Thus, the cheaper price tag. People now consider it as a beginner’s camera, which is perfect for me. It doesn’t come with memory card, LCD protector, or lens protector. So I had to get all of those separately.
The affordable price is really appealing for beginners, but of course, it comes with a downside. First, the menu is all in Japanese and there is no way to change it to English unless you patch it manually. It’s a bit risky for me so I did not do it. Second, the battery life sucks. Third, poor audio quality (no mic jack too). There lots of other things to list but those are my main three concerns. However, for an overall price of 70k yen, I think the pros outweigh the cons.
The picture form the two previous posts are all taken with the camera and I’m pretty pleased with the results. I hope this camera will last for a long time. ♥
‘Detoxing’, sustainable living, and relaxing
It has been a few weeks since all my classes ended and I’ve been watching some videos relating to cleaning and detoxing yourself for the past view days which got me really motivated to clean my whole space.
I cleaned my bathroom and my sink, which was super filthy from all the gunk accumulated. It took a lot of effort in cleaning all those things and I got back pains afterward from doing that. I also cleaned my wardrobe, selling 19 pieces of clothing I never really wear anymore to the recycle shop. It didn’t give me much, though, just a measly 692 yen. Then I rearranged the remaining clothes based on color and my rack looks 10 times better than what it used to be. Lol. Who knew reorganizing could be this good?
I also purchased books related to self-help or transformation (shown in the header). I got them after watching videos on recommended books to read for self-growth. Ever since the incident with the lecturer, I figured that things like this would help me lol. The first book that I am currently reading is titled The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer. Though I am not half-way through, yet, the book has helped me realized a lot of things and it has certainly helped me to recover a bit from that incident. I normally do not reach out for these kinds of books but I am really glad I did. Would really recommend it for people who want to understand themselves further though I must admit it’s not an easy read. I had to reread several times before really understanding it.
I started decluttering other things as well. I’ve known about the concept for a long time but only decided to do it now. It actually feels so good to get rid of things that you know you do not need. Makes me wonder why I only started doing this now. I threw out my unused stationeries and skincare but kept some of them that I plan to bring back. I also got rid of my old papers from past classes that I have no use for anymore.
Other than that, I also decided to try to live more sustainably. I bought a reusable bag for shopping since some grocery stores in Japan charges plastic bags. Makes me feel better for not increasing plastic waste and now I don’t need to fold those annoying plastic bags in order to store them!
As I searched for more about sustainable lifestyle in Youtube, I discovered reusable cotton pads. I got them off Amazon for around 1000 yen. It comes in 12 pieces with 2 laundry nets so you can throw them in your washing machine. Isn’t that neat? Now I don’t need to worry about my cotton pads running out of stock!
Lastly, I gave myself some Me Time. I pampered myself with sheet masks and foot detox patches from time to time. I also started to write more actively in my journal to release my thoughts and emotions. It feels good.
That’s it for now and until the next post!
Feeling down and humiliated
This semester, I decided that I would take a winter session class. This type of class is held 5 days consecutively and separately from the normal schedule and the school would invite guest lecturers from outside the university. The name of the class I took was Brand Management, taught by a supposedly famous person I nicknamed L.
She is a very energetic and enthusiastic lecturer. Always seemed lively and fun. The first two classes went with no problem except for, of course, my group mates. Did I tell you that I always get the shaft in group works? Lol.
On the third day, someone asked the lecturer something regarding quizzes on the fourth day and she got very emotional on her speech about how fucked up the education system is and how we students just have it easy and constantly wants easy A+ for all our subjects. She said she’s not judging and stereotyping us university kids, but the way she phrased it just seemed that way. After her long emotional outburst, she asked if anyone had questions.
I raised my hands and asked if she has a general coverage for the quiz. She has 9 PowerPoint slides in total but most of the time, she just skips some of those slides and I got really confused whether those slides are really relevant for the quiz or not.
She sighed. Or maybe someone sighed, I couldn’t recall.
To be honest, I couldn’t even recall what she said to me afterward because everything just went so fast and I could only stay seated, dumbfounded. I remember her stating that she does not have any coverage for the quiz and all the slides are included as the quiz materials. Then she humiliated me by asking if I would be happy if she made a special slide complication that contains only the materials that would be out for quiz. Oh God, the sarcasm.
At that point, I lost all my respect that I had for her.
I do not understand why she needed to take out her anger and vent it on me. I confronted her after class and apologized to her if any of my words or questions had offended her. I do not think that I am in the wrong, but I feared that she would lower my grades on purpose, so I apologized.
She said my timing to ask the question was horrible and so, she had to go all out and say all those things to me.
I went home and spent almost the whole night crying about how embarrassing and humiliating that scene was. Did I even do something wrong? I bet half of the class wants to know the answer to my simple short question but none of them stood up for me when I was getting bashed by the lecturer. Why? I don’t know. I was speechless. I still am.
Maybe I’m just a butthurt little kid. I want someone to tell me that I did not do anything wrong, but no one did. I wanted to shout and yell and call everyone names, but then I would not be any different from her. I figured that doing all of these things wouldn’t change anything, so I at least want to prove myself that I am better and more mature than her. Of course, it still hurts when I recall the scene but I’m slowly letting all those stupid events go.
Learning to accept and take the blame is so hard. But at least I am now a bit more mature than everyone else in class? Haha.
Mini shopping at Muji
I love Muji products for their overall aesthetically designed and good quality products. They had another sale recently so I dropped by to check if there was anything that I could buy. In the end, I got myself a neck pillow, a paper shredder, a makeup brush, two cleaning tools, a nail oil, 2 glass containers, and a portable lint roller.
Muji neck pillows are really popular for their size and comfortableness. I actually have a neck pillow but it takes up so much space and doesn’t really do much for my poor neck when I travel. But Muji’s is so soft and portable. The price isn’t that expensive either (during sale). There were several colors that you can pick from but I chose the black one for neutrality. They also sell the covers only in case you want to change it.
I’ve been wanting to buy this paper shredder for so long. I got sick of tearing delivery labels by hand from the boxes that I receive through online shopping. I also cleaned my documents last time and had to struggle tearing a lot of paper apart. This paper shredder saved a lot of time and effort. The only downside would be the size. It can only shred maximum two pieces of paper in one go with a width less than 11.4 centimeters. But I mainly use this for tiny delivery labels, so that’s not a problem for me.
I’ve been using a cheap makeup brush from Daiso so far and decided it’s time to get an upgrade. I went for the travel size one since it has a cap so I can keep it clean longer compared to my old brush that just sits in the open collecting dust. This way, I can also longer the time for when I need to clean my brush. I was pleasantly surprised when I touched the brush. It’s super soft on the skin!
This is probably one of the most unexpected item. Haha. I actually forgot to include this in the header picture. It’s a super small lint roller.
I had a huge problem with lint collecting on my coats and hat when I traveled last time. So when I saw this item on sale, I had to get it. The size is so small that it’s smaller than the palm of my hands so maybe it’ll only be useful for small items. Cleaning coats would probably be a bit hard with this. They sell special refills for this, too.
Next is my lifesaver for winter, a cuticle oil. My cuticles have been really dry recently because of winter and they started peeling off to the point of it being unbearable. I tried searching for cuticle oils in Amazon but it was kind of pricey so when I saw Muji had one, I decided to get theirs since it’s way cheaper. It has a nice citrus scent, too.
I saw this on discount as well and figured it might be useful to organize my cotton pads. I usually just keep it in the box it came with but it never shuts close completely so dust always enters. With this, the problem is solved!
I don’t know why it’s called soda glass… Is it only Japan’s way of saying it? Anyways, I’m using it to hold my loose tea bags since they’re not individually packaged.
And the last item are these cleaning tools! They were only 80 yen each, which is cheaper than Daiso. They released the cleaning series recently and received a lot of positive reviews in the websites so I decided to give these guys a go. My sink looks disgusting right now so I’m thinking of using the sponge one for the edges that are difficult to reach. The scrapper is there … to scrape.
That’s it for my mini haul! I hope this would be useful reference for some people who are thinking of buying these products.
Bought an expired coffee and almost got hit by a car
The other day, I went to the nearest supermarket to do my weekly groceries. I was passing the coffee aisle and spotted a very cute Starbucks cup. There were two editions, the normal one in white and the Christmas one in red. Being the extreme coffee and cutesy addict I am, seeing the cup instantly triggered me to reach out for it.
I just love the extra details at the back and I bet my mom would want one as well if she saw this! The cup is microwavable (as long as you take off the lid) and is also compatible with dishwasher. This recyclable cup also comes with two packs of origami drip coffee.
Unfortunately, due to my careless mistake, I did not check the packaging beforehand and only realized that the coffee had expired once I got home! It is partially my fault for not checking, but I think the inventory checker needs to get his/her ass together. It’s 2019 already, why would you put something that clearly says 2018 as the expiration date on the shelf? Sigh.
I biked home from the supermarket and was about to turn left on the intersection near my apartment. I saw someone was crossing the road from afar, so I assumed it was green. I checked the lights, too. It was red for the cars and green for crossing, so I proceeded. However, once my bike hit the zebra cross, the lights turned red but I had no choice but to go forward since I’m already on the road. However, this car lurched forward and almost hit my bicycle and me in the process.
Horrifying.
The car braked in time and I couldn’t process what just happened since everything went by so fast. I just pedaled as quickly as I could to get away from the intersection (there were a lot of cars looking at me, too). I wonder why I feel so embarrassed when I’m the victim and almost got into an accident?
So many bad things happened in a day. Sigh.
Chuu 2019 Lucky Bag
Aside from the Adidas Lucky Bag, I also got another Lucky Bag from Chuu this year. It’s my first time seeing them selling it and at first I was unsure whether the contents would justify the price. There were two ‘prices’, 10,800 yen and 5,400 yen. I got myself the pricier one because it comes with a coat, which I don’t have at the moment.
I started opening the small packages first. I didn’t have a passport cover so I thought it was a nice thing to have. I don’t have small mirrors either, so that’s a good plus. The lipstick has a really good quality. It’s super creamy and it doesn’t accentuate cracks. Unfortunately, it’s not a type of color that I would wear.
I’m a fan of Chuu’s -5KG bottoms. They’re so comfortable but so expensive. 😥 I didn’t expect to get a pair of tights, but now that I think about it, it’s obvious that they would put tights inside the lucky bag as all the contents in the bag are supposed to be ‘free size’.
I don’t have many turtlenecks. I think I only have two in total and I don’t really wear them because the weather in Beppu is funny and never stays the same. I’m pretty satisfied with the quality, though.
Next is a set of PJs. To be honest, this is the most disappointing item in the bag. The material feels nice, but the quality and appearance tells me that it’s a very low quality item lol. Thank God it’s still wearable, though.
The last and most exciting item is this long coat. This item originally costs 13,000 something yen, which is more than what I had paid. The coat’s got some weight, but it’s quite warm. The downside is just the length. It’s way too long for my short height lol. I look like someone drowning in their own clothes. Well, if I can’t use it, I’ll just give it to my mom.
That ends this lucky bag post. Do you think lucky bags, in general, are worth it? What do you think of this lucky bag?
Just a few things I bought in Gotenba & other places
I bought a few things I found interesting during my trip in Gotenba which I will introduce to you in this post! This is basically a New Year shopping post lol.
I saw this in the souvenir store at Yamanaka Lake and had to get it. I got it mostly because my mom said she wanted more Japanese masks and thought this would be a perfect one for her. There are 35 sheets in total separated into 5 pouches with a zipper. It’s perfect for travelling and doesn’t the packaging look so cute!? Japan never fails to amaze me.
Bought in the same store that sold the mask. It was around 600 yen and it comes with the can to store the green tea. I’ve been wanting to buy a tea can to keep my tea leaves and this seemed so perfect I just decided to buy it on spot.
There’s a factory outlet in Gotenba that we went to (twice). My trusty Vans had shown signs of breaking down so I decided to get a new sneaker for the future. It’s really comfortable and has a nice spring when I use it for running. The price was not cheap, but it wasn’t that expensive either. I believe it was around 6000 or 7000 yen for this pair.
I’ve never owned any flat caps but my friend complimented me when I wore his, so I decided to get one myself when I saw it was on discount. It cost me around 1000 yen, which is really cheap for a branded cap. I’m just a bit dissatisfied when I realized lint sticks like crazy on it’s material.
In case you didn’t know, Lucky Bags are now like New Year’s tradition in Japan. People would line up in front of stores really early in the morning to get their hands on them. They typically cost 10,800 yen (with tax) and the contents will have value around 20,000 to 30,000 yen. I’ve never gotten one before and initially gave up when I saw the line for Adidas. (We wanted to get Nike’s but they’re not selling it.) I gave it a try in the end and got my hands on it (took me around 1 hour 30 mins). It’s definitely a steal, but whether you’ll like the contents or not depends on the person.
I bought the teacup, small plate, and bed sheet (it’s so soft!) from Muji after I came back from the trip. They were on sale and I figured I’d get a new set of bedsheets since my old ones aren’t really comfortable for winter. The snacks are Tokyo Banana bread and cookie that I bought in the airport when I came back.
That ends this ‘haul-like’ post. I’m mostly satisfied with most of the things I purchased here and felt like I didn’t really waste my money for nothing. (Except for the lucky bag, maybe, lol). I guess this means I should refrain from buying things this month since I already bought so much!
10 Day Trip To Gotenba Pt. 3
This is the last post for the places I visited during my time in Gotenba. We visited the Shiraito Waterfalls, which is located in Fujinomiya city. It took us around one hour and thirty minutes of train ride and half an hour of bus ride to get there from Gotenba Station.
For this trip, only me and the fountain pen guy went. The others said they were disinterested so we just left them sleeping in the house. We weren’t sure if the trip was going to be worth it at first, but after seeing the waterfalls, we were just ecstatic.
The waterfalls are so majestic that I’m sure the photos wouldn’t be enough to show it.
We stopped by the Sengen shrine on the way home from the falls since we haven’t really got the chance to visit a big shrine during our trip. This shrine is a really famous one and it was once used as a starting point to climb Mt. Fuji.
We visited during day time so the stalls were still being prepared for New Year’s Eve. I would really love to go to this place during new year’s, but too bad it’s so far from Gotenba.
I try my best to visit shrines during or near new years to grab an omikuji (a fortune paper). I got medium luck for this year, which is not bad. I still haven’t read it completely since they use old Japanese phrases inside it. Maybe I’ll ask my Japanese teacher next time. Haha.
This ends my vacation post. I hope you enjoyed reading all three. I’m sorry that it got too long and I don’t have better pictures to show. I’ll keep in mind to take more on my next trip (hopefully)!
Milkbox 